Live music trip reports and amateurish commentary about the shows I attend in big D and little d

Friday, April 4, 2008

4/3/08 - Clint Niosi, Midwinter Fits, Roy Ivy, Tiger!

in what is rapidly becoming a regular thang for me, i headed down to dada on thursday night to catch a midweek shew (gotta get my fix, you know).

first up was Tiger! (the artist in residence for the month), which is mainly one dude (andy, i later learned) on piano (yes, an actual piano), joined by a drummer and sometimes a second vocalist. andy's got a wonderfully deep, gruff, emotion-filled voice that can make damn near anything sound soulful, including the goddam Mattress Giant jingle (you know it: ooohh-ah! ooooh-ah! etc.) - funny as hell. got there late, so i only heard a few songs, but i dug what i heard, including two leonardcohen covers and a beatles cover. loved the moody, melancholy piano playing - it matched his voice very well. would've liked to have heard his original material, but that was probly earlier in the set. maybe next week.

during the outrageously-long and leisurely-paced set change (doesn't anyone else have to work in the morning?), i got a chance to chat with fred (from my Favorite Local Band the felons), who kept me thoroughly entertained and laughin my ass off. amazing, how with-it and together that dude is, at such a young age (nice job, bill h). now if only he'd quit smokin ('tho i think he said he was gonna quit smokin when he turned 21, just to be ironic. ha!). thot for a second i was gonna get to watch the felons rehearse, but alas, it was not meant to be.

next up was Roy Ivy, lead sanger from the Tah-dahs, who did a solo acoustic set. it was exactly what i expected from the tah-dahs lead - funny, clever, smart and quirky pop tunes. he sang what should be my work buddies' theme song, the one that goes "i got a damn good excuse for drinkin, it's called monday. i got an even better excuse for drinkin, it's called tuesday", or somethin along those lines (sorry - it was thursday, so i was drinkin). anyways, the dude is truly talented. enjoyed the set.

next up was Midwinter Fits, from Arlington. really really liked these guys. some absolutely beautiful, haunting, melancholy, mellow folk rock. 5-man - acoustic, bass, mandolin (nice!), keys, drums. great vocals on the lead, and wonderful harmonies 'tween the lead and bass player - you know i love that. great set. the highlight of the evening for me. definitely would like to catch them again.

last up was Clint Niosi, another talented solo acoustic singer/songwriter. a real natural behind the mic and on the guitar. loved his voice - kept tryin to think of who it reminded me of, and landed on Bono. really like his fully-arranged stuff on myspace, and would love to catch him with a full band sometime.